Consecrated to the Heart of the Redeemer under the patronage of the Theotokos and Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.

30 November 2012

Apocalypse Now!

The word
“Advent” means “coming, arrival.” God
the Son first manifested Himself in human flesh, as the “just shoot” promised
long ago to God’s holy people. In the
same moment we acknowledge the consummate administration of divine justice at
the end of days. Jeremiah’s talk of
safety and security comes to us alongside Jesus’ predictions of nations in
dismay, roaring seas, and death-inducing fright.

What gives?

Saint Luke has recorded Jesus in the register
of “apocalyptic,” which we know best from the Book of the Apocalypse
(Revelation), but it is also found in several Gospel passages, and Hebrew
prophets such as Daniel, Joel, and Zechariah.Apocalyptic is a writing style marked by vivid, sensational imagery well
suited for sci-fi or horror flicks.It
usually contains coded language that unintended, "enemy" audiences wouldn’t be able to
decipher.

But apocalyptic is meant to be
more than a good summer beach novel.Its
original audience wasn’t on holiday; it was being persecuted!They appreciated divine encouragement.They also needed exhortations to fidelity
amid temptations to desertion.Above
all, God wanted them to know that their steadfastness was not futile.Their enemies were doomed to the very
destruction they were seeking to inflict.For example: Daniel wrote to reassure the Jews who were suffering the
madness of the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes.Saint John’s visions assured the early
Christians under Rome’s thumb that they would survive that “evil empire,” and
many others besides.

Apocalyptic literature is all about
“getting sober,” that is to say, acquiring the divine perspective on human
affairs.Hear again Our Lord’s words in
Luke: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and
drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day [of the Lord’s
coming] catch you by surprise like a trap.”

The necessary virtue is vigilance: staying in the present moment, staying
out of the drama of the end-times (and, for that matter, the drama of the
current times).As news and commentary
assault us from all sides, it is easy to be caught in the riptide of obsessive
anger and fear.There is too much to do;
there are too many real subjects of concern that merit our attention—not so
much tasks as persons.

Save the drama for this llama

So enough with Powerball’s material
madness: If we would have it, this Advent can be the chance of a lifetime, to focus
on Christ with a peaceful heart so that everything else might fall into place.